Andy Strange

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More on the Electoral Reform Society elections

Strange Thoughts
2 comments on More on the Electoral Reform Society elections

There are only a couple of days left before the ballot closes for the election to the Electoral Reform Society‘s governing council. Since I wrote about my take on the elections I’ve been interested to read what other have been saying about the elections.

There was a good summary of the issues from Simon McGrath. Also on Liberal Democrat voice Stephen Tall has pulled together a collection of blog posts on the elections (kindly including my post among them) which gives a good flavour of the debate. Finally Mark Pack has written about the five questions you should ask before voting.

Having read through these I am more convinced that the best result for ERS would be a mix of established figures and new reformers to be elected to the council. If the could respect and learn from each others positions then the society will be strengthened. The danger is that the election results in divisions and discord which I hope those elected will actively guard against.

Source: This content was originally posted on my old Strange Thoughts blog.

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2 responses to “More on the Electoral Reform Society elections”

  1. Anthony Tuffin avatar
    Anthony Tuffin

    I fully agree that the ERS needs a mixture of the old and the new on its Council to provide stability without stagnation and change without chaos.

    Unfortunately some of the new have talked about sweeping out the old while some of the old have used “Barbarians at the gate” language.

    I hope the ERS members collectively will vote in such a way as to create the right mix of old and new on Council and that those elected will work together for the good of the Society as a whole and not allow it to split into factions more interested in scoring points off each other than in advancing the cause of STV which, presumably, we all support.

    Between about 1998 and 2004, the ERS was almost fatally split by factions but, after a detailed report from a Special Commission to heal the rifts, the factions disbanded and their former members worked hard together to re-unite the Society and advance its cause. Please let’s not go back to factions again.

    Please see http://www.reformgroups.net/?q=node/144 for more on this and other topical issues.

    ANTHONY TUFFIN
    Hon. Treasurer, ERS, since 2008
    Editor, http://stvaction.org.uk
    Chairman, Make Votes Count in West Sussex since 1999
    ERS Council candidate, 2011

    Reply
  2. Niklas Smith avatar
    Niklas Smith

    I agree with you about the need to mix experience with new people. Incidentally, that is the reason I feel compelled to vote against the Special Resolution on introducing term limits: I think having a limit of three consecutive two-year terms is good in principle, but forcing most of the Councillors standing for re-election to resign immediately seems pointless. Much better to introduce term limits next year – before the next Council election.

    As for getting a good mix of old and new people, one of the benefits of STV is that since it is proportional the result is almost bound to be a mixture of re-elected members and new ones.

    Reply

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